


The Stars Look Very Different Today

by rangifertarandus



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, International Space Station, Jealous Louis, M/M, louis cries a lot, not really tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-01 22:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2790356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangifertarandus/pseuds/rangifertarandus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>They’ve always had each other, they never missed a Christmas. But the expedition is running late on schedule and the space module needs further repairs and he won’t be back before the 25th so that means that he's stuck 200 miles from home and he feels sick to his stomach and he doesn't know how he'll be able to function without Harry by his side</i>
</p><p>Or</p><p>Harry and Louis promised to never spend Christmas apart, but this year Louis is stuck 220 miles from Earth and won't be back before Boxing Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stars Look Very Different Today

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Holiday Cheer Fic Challenge
> 
> My three words/prompts were:  
> Universe – _Space_. Story type – _Jealous/Protective/Clingy_. Wintery element – _First Christmas_.
> 
> I actually started this fic AGES ago, back when Niall was going on about the ISS, what was it? February I think...?  
> ANYWAY when I got the prompt I thought I'd adjust what I had already written to my needs. It ended up becoming a completely different fic and as you can see I also tweaked the themes a bit, but they're kind of all there somehow so there's that...
> 
> The title is from [Space Oddity](http://youtu.be/cYMCLz5PQVw) by David Bowie  
> fun fact: because of this song I kept on writing "Major Tomlinson" instead of "Captain Tomlinson", so I ended up having him called just Louis instead...
> 
> Also, I couldn't find a beta to save my life (apart from [Alice](http://xalldieyoungx.tumblr.com), who's lovely and read this and said it was beautiful, but we've known each other for about 23 years, so I'm not sure it counts) so definitely point out any mistake and I'll fix it!

Louis stares out of the window as the sun sets for the 15th time, he should be asleep already but his mind is racing. He’s in space, like, literally in space. Well, to be precise he's in the International Space Station, 220 miles from Earth, going at about 17,500 miles per hour. And that is amazing. He used to get these bouts of incredulity every morning when he’d wake up and looking outside his window he’d see Earth, and all he could think was “ _gorgeous_ ”. 

He still gets them, gets this feeling of having been blessed with something unreal, something he’s not even sure he deserved in the first place.

He turns his head to the right, he sees faces looking back at him from the pictures on the wall. His mum and Dan at their wedding, just a year and a half ago; him surrounded by his four sisters, all of them looking up at the camera with their biggest smiles. The last picture is of him and Harry, his best friend; Harry, with curly hair and green eyes, tall and lanky and with a smile so great it could eclipse even the brightest of the stars. And Louis knows stars, oh if he does. He spent half of his life studying them.

It was back in 2016 when Great Britain had finally decided to become part of the ISS project. The building of the first British Module, in the west hangar of the British Space Agency in Swindon, had taken just a year and Louis remembers there was a lot of propaganda and amazing ads on the telly, showing how cool life was in space, all to justify the expenses the Country was sustaining. There was a lot of controversy at the time, but, as on the opposite hand, every child in Britain, including Harry and Louis, when asked _“what do you want to be when you grow up?”_ would reply _“An astronaut on the ISS”_. 

But while most of their mates chose different paths in the end, Harry and Louis didn’t. They were obsessed with space and they vowed to get to the ISS one day, and they promised to get there together.

•

Louis remembers the day he found out he was part of the 145th ISS expedition. He was so happy he could burst, he felt invincible, ready to conquer the world and, possibly, the whole universe. He had decided he would tell Harry then, finally tell him he was in love with him, tell him _he_ was his whole universe. 

Louis had known for a while, he actually had known for ages then, but he never got the guts to say it, fearing it would ruin their friendship. But they were going to space, they had been waiting years for that moment and there was no way he would back out. Not to mention that he might have gotten some _space sex_ out of it so it was definitely worth a shot.

He had rung the doorbell and had waited for Harry to open the door. Louis greeted him with a huge grin and a cup of steamy mocha latte from the place they both loved. But the moment Harry showed up, Louis’ face fell. He looked a mess, red eyes and dark circles underneath and Louis felt like dying.

Harry forced a smile when he saw his friend, though, and started leaning in to wrap him in a hug.

"You're going to space" he said. And how could he sound so cheerful? Everything was so so wrong.

Louis started shaking his head non stop as a knot formed in his throat, he was going to cry. Harry wrapped his arms around him and pulled him inside. He closed the door and leaned on it, pulling the shorter boy with him. Louis heard his friend sniffle and it felt like a dam was breaking as he started sobbing in Harry’s shirt and they stood there holding on to each other for what felt like ages. 

"I'm so happy and proud of you Lou, you're going to be brilliant" Harry managed to say once they had calmed down.

Louis didn't know how to speak anymore and nothing except for a string of "no no no" was coming out of his mouth.

"I can't go" he finally managed to rasp. Harry huffed a watery laugh.

"Why not?" He asked, pushing Louis away a bit so that they could look at each other’s face.

"Can't do it without you...I just can't" Louis said. Harry's expression hardened then.

"If you waste this opportunity for such a stupid reason I'm going to be mad forever" he said. Louis blinked, trying to fight back the tears.

"We promised we'd never leave each other" he tried. Harry smiled.

"You're coming back though…and we'll spend Christmas together, just as usual… it's been your dream forever Lou..." he said. Louis took a deep breath.

"But it's been yours too" he whispered.

"Yeah, but I'm needed here...I'll be in charge of ground operations and communication with the space station during your mission..." He said, tilting Louis’ chin up and levelling his gaze up with his, making Louis feel like a stubborn child. 

He’s always dreamt of going to space, but he wasn’t so sure he was ready to go if Harry wasn’t with him.

All thoughts of confessing his undying love were thrown out of the window then. It would have just been worse, it would have made Louis feel horrible. So he just kept shut about it; and laughed when they realised they had smashed the cup and they were covered in mocha latte; and he generally let himself be cuddled by his best friend all day, just like they used to do when they were younger and they had bad days.

•

See, the thing is that Harry and Louis have known each other for ages. They met back in 2010 when Louis moved with his mum and stepfather in the house next to Harry’s. Louis was moody because he didn’t want to leave Doncaster in the first place and he was a bit wary of this cheerful, weird kid at first. But he couldn’t really resist the boy's big green eyes and dimpled smile and it didn’t take long for them to become inseparable.

They spent every day together, playing in the garden, watching cartoons on the telly and having sleepovers. Their mothers ended up knowing each other very well and, especially after Louis' stepfather, Mark, left, it wasn't unusual for one or more of the Tomlinsons to be in the Styles' household and vice versa. 

Louis remembers only bits of the night Mark went away. Like a hazy dream that only comes to him in pieces every now and then. 

It was Christmas Eve, Louis' 16th birthday, he remembers he was at Harry's, getting ready for a night at the pub with their mates from school. 

He remembers buttoning up his shirt and turning towards his best friend, Harry was looking out of the window, a frown marring his features, and for a moment all Louis could think was that he was too cute to be real. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts about Harry that he almost didn't hear him speak.

"Lou, Lou, come here..." Harry said, a hand outstretched towards him, Harry didn't take his eyes from what was happening outside his window and he sounded worried. 

Louis walked up to him with a cheeky grin, ready to come up with a joke to lighten up the mood. He slotted himself next to Harry, they’ve always been cuddly but it always amazed Louis how well they fitted together. He smiled at the thought, but then he looked down and he saw his mum standing in the snow, he heard her shouting _”Go away”_ and _”Don't you ever come back”_ and he could see she was crying. Harry tried to stop him, to keep him there, but Louis got out of his grip and run downstairs and out of the door, just in time to see Mark slam the car door closed and drive away. 

He went up to his mother, hugging her shoulders, she was crying but wasn't making a sound, she looked small and fragile.

"Mum" he whispered, she didn't reply.

"Mum" he cried then and she finally turned towards him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry baby, he's gone" she said, burying her face in his shoulder. Louis held her closer, he didn't know what to say, he didn't even know what to ask.

He doesn’t really know how long they stood there in the snow, he remembers he was only wearing slippers and even if he was freezing, he barely noticed when Harry and Anne walked up to them, wrapping blankets around them and walking them in their house. 

They were left in the living room, still holding on to each other, while, he later found out, Gemma and Harry took care of dinner and Anne went back to the Tomlinsons' to get the girls. Hours later, after Gemma had managed to put everyone to bed, in a fort made out of sheets and blankets (and with the promise that Santa didn’t need an exact address to bring presents to the right people), Harry managed to peel Louis from his mother and steer him upstairs and into the shower, while Anne opened a bottle of brandy and sat down on the sofa next to Jay with two shot glasses in her hand.

Louis washed himself, he felt cold and sore everywhere as if he had a fever. But he remembers feeling suddenly warm all over when he found Harry waiting for him with a fluffy towel, as he stepped out of the shower. He wrapped Louis in it and rubbed on his shoulders to keep him warm. They didn’t speak when they walked in Harry’s room. Louis didn’t even know what had happened, he couldn’t understand what had gone so wrong, he didn’t know what to do and how to react. 

He could hear the faint sound of his mother crying downstairs, and the soothing voice of Anne and he mentally thanked whatever God there was for having the Styles as neighbours.

Harry gave him a pair of pants and some pyjamas and fussed around him until he was lying in bed. Eventually, he pressed a small kiss on Louis’ forehead.

“Get some sleep Lou” he whispered and made to leave. It was then that Louis panicked.

“Harry” he whimpered. Harry stopped in his tracks.

“Lou?” he whispered, turning around just as Louis sat up in the bed.

“Please, don’t leave me alone” he managed to say, his voice cracking. Barely a second later he was wrapped up in Harry’s arms.

“Don’t leave me” Louis whispered again in Harry’s neck. 

The boy tightened his grip on Louis, manoeuvring them both under the duvet. Louis still doesn’t know how he managed that. He should probably ask him.

“I’m not leaving Lou, I never will” Harry had said then, while Louis sniffed.

“Promise me, promise me we’ll always be together” he pleaded, Harry hummed and a small knowing smile appeared on his lips. 

“Always?” he asked, a hint of a laughter in his voice, before pressing a kiss on Louis’ temple. 

Louis managed a tiny smile, it was a bit of an extreme request after all. He’s always been a bit of a drama queen anyway.

“At least on my birthday” he finally said, Harry chuckled and nodded.

“We’ll always be together, at least at Christmas” he repeated, a dimpled grin on his face. Louis doesn’t remember much afterwards, but he knows that when he woke up the next day, with a mouthful of curls and a boy wrapped around his body he felt as if the night before had just been a bad dream.

•

They promised to never leave and to never miss a Christmas back then, and they did again many times after that, on those nights when one of them had a bad day; like when Harry’s granddad passed away and Harry refused to speak to anyone but Louis for the whole weekend, or when Louis’ first boyfriend cheated on him and made a fool out of him in front of the whole Introduction to Physics class the first year of uni. 

They’ve always had each other, they never missed a Christmas. But the expedition is running late on schedule and the space module needs further repairs and he won’t be back before the 25th so that means that he's stuck 200 miles from home and he feels sick to his stomach and he doesn't know how he'll be able to function without Harry by his side.

His laptop beeping with an incoming call shakes him from his thoughts and, _oh the irony_ , it’s in fact his best friend, calling him on Skype. Louis checks the time: 10pm UTC. He is very grateful for the soundproof PSP (Private Sleep Pods) Britain had built on the ISS, his mates would have killed him if he had woken them up so late on a work night. 

Louis sighs and accepts the call, hoping he doesn’t look too disheveled. Then again it’s been almost 6 months since he’s had a proper shower, having to make do with no rinse shampoo and wet wipes, not to mention his hair has started to grow totally wild.

“Hey” Harry’s voice comes out of the speakers but Louis can’t see his face yet.

“H, I can’t see you” Louis says. He hears Harry laugh and finally his face comes into view.

“Hi!” he says, a dimpled grin appearing on his face.

“Hello to you Harold, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Louis says, mirroring his friend with a grin of his own. It’s amazing how easy it is to fall back into their friendly banter.

“I couldn’t sleep” Harry says with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah neither could I” Louis confesses. They are still incredibly in tune with each other even after he’s been away for so long.

“It’s shit news” Harry says, Louis doesn’t even need to ask what he’s talking about.

“I know, I’m sorry” He says. Harry shakes his head.

“It’s hardly your fault…” he says. Louis shrugs, turning to look out of the small window, where a new dawn is coming up, it’s going to be the last one of the day.

“Is it sunrise or sunset?” Louis hears Harry ask. He snaps his head back to the screen.

“How can you tell?” He asks back. Harry chuckles.

“Your face is glowing in the light” He says. Louis snorts.

“How do you know it’s not artificial light?” He asks. 

“You look prettier in the sunlight” Harry says with a grin, and Louis blushes so hard that he wonders if Harry can see it from Earth. A bright red flaming face, straight from out of his window.

“It’s sunrise you idiot… You’re not too bad yourself, though, what’s going on with your hair?” Louis subtly changes subject. 

He perfectly knows what’s going on, though. An amazing _hair bet_. Of course, since Louis wouldn’t have been able to cut his hair while in space he had this brilliant idea, back in June, that none of them should cut their hair. When Louis’ll come back they will find out whose hair has grown longer. Louis is sure he’s going to win, he _has_ to win. Especially because the grand prize is a whole day of having Harry at his own command and that is definitely going to be fun.

“Shut up! Have you seen yours?” Harry says with a laugh. He stares intently at Louis. “so long Lou” He finally says. Louis chuckles.

“That’s what she said” He retorts, making Harry guffaw, mouth wide open and a hand shooting up to cover it. Louis misses him so much. He laughs, too, trying to sound as happy as he can.

“Hey Lou” Harry says after the laughter has died down. Louis tilts his chin towards the screen.

“We’ll make it work yeah?” He whispers, Louis frowns, unsure of what his friend is talking about. He’s about to ask, when Harry speaks again.

“We’ll have Christmas together no matter what, okay? I’m not leaving you alone” He says. And Louis has to close his eyes because he’s about to cry, and he doesn’t want to because it’ll make Harry worry and he hates it. 

“Yeah” He only whispers, he presses his palms to his eyes, pushing away the tears as best as he can. 

“I miss you too” He hears Harry say, his voice sad, as if he could read Louis’ mind. He opens his eyes then, a single tear trailing down his face. He knows Harry notices and he sees him move his hand towards the screen. He’s surprised, though, when he hears a low _thud_ before his friend mutters a curse. He stares for a moment with wide eyes.

“Did you–“ Louis stops, no it can’t be “–did you just crash your hand on the screen?” He asks with a raised eyebrow. Harry looks down, mortified and Louis can’t help but start laughing. 

“Oh my god, you’re such a flop” He says, and Harry’s outraged “hey” is lost in laughter. 

•

_«Ground control to ISS»_

The radio screeches, Louis recognises Niall’s voice and he frowns. It’s daytime in England, so usually Harry’d be the one to get in touch. 

_«Ground control to ISS – please reply»_

The radio screeches again and Louis floats to the screen to respond. He likes Niall, they’ve known each other for about a year and a half now, but they never really hung out. It’s a pity considering Niall is Irish and seems like a real laugh. Louis resolves to hang out with him more once he’ll be back.

“Hey Niall-“ he starts, before realising it’s an actual official communication and trying to regain composure “- Captain Tomlinson speaking”.

“Hello Louis, just the guy I needed. How’s it going?” Niall says. Right, so regaining composure wasn’t really needed then.

“Everything’s good. We’re all ready to come home I think” Louis says. 

He’s seen how cranky and tired everyone is. Liam and Sophia went from being all loved up and looking like they were on an almost-literal-honeymoon, to barely touching each other and sleeping in separate pods. Helen’s got jumpy and snappy and she tends to start rants in Swedish every time she gets upset. Paul clearly feels the pressure of the whole mission, as he’s Commander in chief and has the responsibility of them all. All in all, everyone is very close to their limit.

Louis is distracted from the conversation, when Zayn floats in the room. He is the one he best gets along with, he was brooding and sombre at first, the result of a shit break up right before leaving. But after Louis tried and tried again, pushing Zayn until he broke and told him everything, they became fast friends and they tend to spend hours chatting and laughing like kids about silly things. Lately, though, even him seems to disappear to God knows where most of the time, and Louis idly wonders where the hell he hides since they are living in a freaking metal box in space; but, really, he is too exhausted to figure it out.

Louis looks back at the screen where Niall seems concentrated on something right behind him.

“So what did you need me for?” Louis asks, to snap the Irish lad out of it. 

“Right, yeah, sorry… Louis, you’re not sleeping” He says. Shit, straight to the point. 

“I-“ Louis doesn’t know what to say. He knows he’s not sleeping, but he just can’t, because he can’t stop thinking. About home, about his family, about Christmas and, mostly, about Harry. He spends hours awake in his pod, trying to get his brain to stop, but there’s no use. He can’t relax and he just really, _really_ wants to go home.

“You know we could do something about it…” Niall says. Louis gulps down a knot he hasn’t even realised had formed in his throat. He doesn’t want sleeping aids, he just wants to go home. And where’s Harry anyway? Why is it Niall asking him this stuff? Harry would certainly know what he needs.

“Where’s Harry?” Louis asks, and the trembling in his voice must be giving away all he’s feeling, because Zayn floats next to him, grabbing his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Harry-“ Niall starts, he darts his eyes towards Zayn and Louis sees him nod out of the corner of his eyes. What even is going on? “-Harry took the day off because he’s out with Nick” Niall finally says, and he looks guarded, ready to duck, as if Louis could go there and punch him for some reason.

“Out with Nick?” Louis asks, he thinks he might be shaking. He doesn’t even know what to do. He doesn’t dislike Nick per se, and he knows that Harry and him are good friends, but he could definitely live without knowing what they do together. 

“Yeah, they had a thing” Niall says, unsure. A _thing_. What even? Louis sees Zayn roll his eyes and he still feels utterly confused about this exchange. 

“They’re probably just hanging out, Lou” Zayn finally says, shooting a pointed glare at Niall. Louis doesn’t even notice he’s squeezing Zayn’s hand so hard that the other man has to gently unclasp his fingers one by one.

“Yeah Harry said he had to sort out some stuff” Niall adds. Well, that doesn’t really make it better. 

“Come on, I’ll wrap this up, meet me in the galley in a moment, yeah?” Zayn says, pushing Louis gently towards the corridor. 

Louis nods, mouthing a “bye Niall” before floating away. He stops and turns, though, wanting to thank Zayn, but when he does he’s rendered speechless. He sees his friend splaying his palm on the screen as Niall does the same on the other side. Louis frowns. It looks like some odd scene from a movie… Could it be-? Nah, that’s not possible. But then he hears the whispered compliments and promises and he faintly smiles. He’s glad Zayn found someone after all he’s been through. Louis turns away to leave, wishing that he could do the same with Harry instead. 

•

Later that night Louis decides to check his twitter, he usually doesn’t really care, but he’s bored, and sad; and he really needs to get his mind off things. 

After the whole British Space Agency boom, back in 2016, British astronauts had become actual celebrities, so having a certified Twitter and Instagram had become a must. Things had died down a bit then, but there was still a lot of publicity for astronauts, especially when they participated in important missions such as the ISS. That meant that Louis had quite a big group of followers, that could easily rival some sport personalities or some minor actors. His sister, Lottie, told him that he apparently even had Tumblrs dedicated to him, but he still doesn’t know what a Tumblr is so he’s really not too fussed about it.

The thing is, though, that when he logs in that night, he finds out that his followers count almost doubled overnight and he has no idea of how that happened. He clicks through his mentions and sees that everyone is retweeting the same tag _#harryswaitingforlou_ and after some scrolling he finally finds the original post.

It’s by Harry and it has about ten thousand retweets. It links back to his instagram. Louis clicks on it and it’s a blurry picture of the sky, with the moon shining and a definite line of light, right across the picture. It’s the ISS, Louis knows because they’ve been taking pictures of it for ages, back when they were kids. 

The caption says: _I’m waiting for you @louistomlinson #nottoolongnow_ and Louis feels like crying. It’s not a picture of the ISS, it’s a picture of _him_. 

Harry might have been out with Nick, but he was still thinking of him. The thought makes him giddy and, before he chickens out, he opens the iMessage app on his laptop and sends out _You’re a sap, I miss you so much_ to Harry, then shuts down the screen and sets to sleep.

Just one more week.

•

Louis knows there’s something going on between Niall and Zayn and he takes great pleasure in nagging Zayn about it. He’s not even sorry about it when he crashes one of their chats on Skype, floating right in front of the screen as Niall is going on about his day. You can’t really blame him, though. He’s utterly bored, the mission officially ended two days ago and they can’t do much but wait for Helen and Paul to terminate the last repairs, before getting the OK from Ground Control to go back. 

Not to mention he’s secretly jealous – okay, well, not so secretly, Zayn’s managed to get the truth out of him after a particularly unproductive day, during which Louis was tricked into talking about his family back home. His guard was down, he was feeling cranky and sad and when Zayn took the opportunity to ask “so how long have you been in love with Harry then?” Louis mindlessly replied “pretty much forever”, before putting his hands on his mouth afterwards as if he could take it back and eliciting a loud laugh from Zayn, it went all downhill from there.

This means that he gets to complain to Zayn about his unrequited love, though. So that’s definitely an improvement.

He gets a call from Harry on Skype just before bedtime. He should really stop having chats with his crush before bed, because it always ends with him having a shit sleep, or not sleeping at all.

“Hi!” Harry says, cheerful. His cheeks are a bit pink, as if he’s been out in the snow for too long.

“Hey!You look frozen” Louis says with a smile. Harry laughs.

“Yeah I just came in, it’s super cold outside” He says, Louis tries to control the fondness threatening to split his face in a massive grin.

“Has it snowed yet?” Louis asks, he really misses home. It was summer when he left, it’s going to be so weird to come back to winter and cold.

“Yeah it snowed loads! Here I’ll show you some pictures” Harry says excitedly. He grabs his phone and scrolls through it for a bit before turning it towards the screen. Louis smiles. The first picture is from outside Harry’s flat, Louis knows it well enough. 

They had decided to invest in buying a house each when they first entered the Space Aviation program, a long talk with Liam, who had just bought a house for himself at the time, had got them pumped and they had launched themselves in the quest. Louis at first had thought it was a shit idea, especially because in his mind he would have spent his life with Harry so there really was no point in having two houses. But Harry had looked so determined that he had finally gave in and indulged the boy. They ended up living a couple of blocks from each other, both not too far from the Agency. Swindon is not really that big anyway.

Louis looks as Harry scrolls to the second pictures, it’s Gemma, Harry’s sister, and she’s clearly packing a snowball in her hands; Harry scrolls to the next picture and Louis can’t help but laugh. It looks like Gemma threw the snowball at her brother, who managed to catch the shot with the snowball in mid-air.

“Did she hit you?” Louis asks, Harry chuckles.

“She totally did man” He says, Louis cackles. 

“You really are a flop” He says, and his voice comes out so fond he can’t help but blush. 

“Shut up, I was taking a picture, I was distracted” Harry says, and he scrolls some more.

There are a lot of pictures of Christmas decorations, snowmen (typical Harry) and snow filled scenarios, a picture of Harry and Gemma, both in a beanie, smiling at the camera with pink cheeks; Anne, Harry’s mum, with her hands on her hips, a frown on her face, standing in her wellies and pyjamas as Harry’s cat is rolling in the snow; the picture of the Space Station Harry posted on instagram a while ago (Louis grins at it and asks Harry if he looked good from Earth, Harry says _“yes of course”_ ); an apartment complex, that Louis recognises as his own, covered in snow and bathed in orange light.

“So you don’t forget home” Harry says, Louis huffs out a laugh. He can’t wait to be back, he really can’t.

Harry scrolls once more and it’s a picture of him, he’s drinking from a straw, out of a huge bucket of God knows what and he’s right next to Nick Grimshaw, who’s doing the same, an arm thrown around Harry’s shoulders and a crinkly smile on his face. Louis stops breathing.

“That was a big bucket” he manages to say. Harry tears the phone from the screen to look at the picture, he smirks when he sees it.

“Yeah it was at Daisy’s Christmas Party, a couple of days ago” he says. Louis’ stomach churns, questions filling up his head and he’s sure he’s going insane. He wants to reply with something harsh, something shitty that will surely leave Harry confused and hurt. But he really has no right to be this jealous, he can’t do this to Harry.

“Did you have fun?” He manages to ask instead. Harry’s eyes light up and he launches in a minute by minute retelling of the whole night.

He finishes his story with “You should have been there, you would have loved it” and Louis is sure he can’t do it anymore. 

He smiles at Harry and fakes a yawn, hoping that he’d get the hint.

“Sounds really fun” he says around another fake yawn. Harry looks mildly worried.

“I think you should go to sleep now, I’ll speak to you tomorrow, yeah?” Harry says, Louis nods. It’s his birthday in two days, it’s Christmas in three, and Harry is far away, going to parties with boys that are not Louis. He hates it so much.

He manages to say goodnight and shut down his laptop without crying, then manages to drag himself to Zayn’s pod with barely watery eyes. 

He knocks and hears Zayn say “come in”.

Louis approaches him, he has his laptop open but looks up from the screen as Louis comes closer. He knows that Zayn _knows_ the moment he sees his face. He opens his arms and lets Louis bury his face in his shirt as he starts crying. He doesn’t know how long he cries for, repeating a string of “I want to go home” over and over again, he faintly hears Niall saying “I’ll talk to you tomorrow” and he barely notices Zayn nodding and saying a soft “goodnight Niall”, shutting down his laptop and strapping them both to the bed.

•

Louis wakes up early on the 24th, the sun is rising outside his window and it’s so bright that for a moment he can’t even see what’s there and can pretend he’s back home, waking up in his own bed. He unties his restraints; it was weird at first, sleeping strapped to his bed so that he wouldn’t float away during the night. It still is weird but he got used to it. He wonders if it’ll feel weird sleeping in a normal bed once he’s back home. Just one more sleep. He can’t wait.

He finds Sophia in the galley, she’s munching on a piece of a dried apple and her face brightens when she sees him.

“Happy birthday Louis” she says, barreling into him and beaming. Louis can’t help but grin back at her and thank her. It doesn’t take long for everyone else to wake up and come say Happy Birthday and all in all it doesn’t feel so shit. 

Zayn is the last one to get up, no surprise here, and he hugs Louis close and drags him to his pod. He powers up his laptop and tells Louis to close his eyes. Louis laughs, because it’s stupid, but it’s cute so he just indulges his friend. When he gets permission to open them, he sees a brightly coloured leaflet on the screen.

“So I couldn’t print it because it would have been pointless but we can print it as soon as we’re back home” Zayn quickly says, and Louis still hasn’t figured out what it is on the screen so he approaches and when he finally sees it his eyes widen.

“Zayn” He says, waving his arm trying to grab his friend, he hears Zayn laugh but coming close anyway. Louis grabs Zayn’s arm.

“Zayn did you get us tickets for Coachella next year?” He asks, Zayn giggles.

“I did man, did you see the line up?” he says, Louis wants to shout. This is amazing, he loves Zayn, loves him a lot, Zayn is a great friend.

“I love you man, love you so much” Louis says, burying his face in Zayn’s neck, he shakes his head but holds Louis tight.

“Love you too mate” He says, laughing in Louis’ neck. 

All in all it doesn’t feel shit at all.

They spend the day making the last repairs and making sure everything is set for tomorrow’s scheduled departure. They still haven’t got the OK from Ground Control, though, and as time passes everyone starts to get more and more anxious. 

Right before dinner time, they hear Niall’s voice from the radio.

 _«Ground control to ISS»_ _«Ground control to ISS»_

Zayn and Louis, along with all the others, dart towards the screen and they are met with Niall’s smiling face.

“Hi everyone, happy birthday Louis!” Everyone says hi back and Louis thanks him, but they’re all waiting for the most important news and Louis doesn’t think he can wait any longer.

“Niall please, what is the verdict” finally Paul says.

“They gave you the OK, you’re coming home guys” Niall says and Louis thinks he’ll never receive a better present. He and Zayn hug, both with teary eyes, and they are soon joined by everyone else, cheering and laughing and crying and thanking the Gods they can go back. It’s definitely been too long.

They are set to leave tomorrow at lunchtime, it’ll take about five hours to get back and they are mostly free for the rest of the night. Louis doesn’t even hesitate when he messages Harry from the iMessage app.

_Coming home tomorrow_

He writes. Harry replies immediately.

_Wanna Skype?_

Louis really wants to see his boy so he replies _sure give me a mo_ as he’s getting online.

He sees Harry’s icon and he’s about to click on it when he gets an incoming call. It’s from Harry and he accepts it without even noticing that it’s a multiple people’s chat. 

He’s met with a chorus of “Hi” and “Hey” as two screens come into view, there’s Harry on the right, grinning like mad, with a plate of roasted chicken and mash in front of him. On the left is a whole table, filled with his family along with Harry’s. Everyone is there, including the two newly born twins. And Louis wants to cry.

“Oh my God” he whispers, he hears Lottie laugh, before she starts singing _Happy Birthday_ and Félicité and the twins sing along. Soon everyone is singing and Louis is straight out crying and laughing at the same time; because Daisy got up and took the tablet, with the intent of bringing it closer to everyone, but she clearly dropped it in the mashed potatoes, and there’s a big splotch of food on the camera now. But no one stopped singing (even if he distinctly heard his mum’s pitch raise when she noticed what her daughter did and Harry let out one of his open mouthed laughs that had Louis into stitches) and it’s beautiful.

He manages to tell everyone he’s coming home tomorrow, his mum says she’s driving down with the girls and Anne after they unwrap the presents. Dan and Robin both say how proud they are of him and Anne and Gemma say they miss him and they’re glad he’ll be back soon. Daisy tells him to bring her a present from space, to which Phoebe replies “sure just pop in at the space souvenir shop before leaving” and that sparks a weird argument that has Jay stand up and take the tablet outside the dining room.

“Did my Louis behave Harry?” Jay asks, Harry giggles.

“Yeah, he doesn’t sleep much but he’ll be fine when he gets back” Harry says, with a hint of a smile.

They exchange some more pleasantries and Harry promises to meet her and the girls the next day, when they get to Swindon. Jay sends a kiss to Louis and one to Harry before saying goodnight and merry Christmas and logging off.

“How do you know I don’t sleep much?” Louis asks once they are alone, Harry shakes his head.

“We monitor your sleep, you idiot… besides, Niall told me you refused to get sleeping aids” He says, looking a lot like his mum did when he was little and he’d do something she didn’t approve of.

“I don’t want sleeping aids” he retorts, Harry smiles.

“It doesn’t matter now, you’ll be home tomorrow” He says, a huge grin on his face and Louis really can’t wait.

“Yeah” he whispers, he looks outside, the last dawn of the day coming up next to him. Now, this is something he’s definitely going to miss.

“Lou, I can’t meet you when you land” Harry says suddenly. Louis frowns.

“What– Why?” he asks. Harry bites his lower lip.

“I have to coordinate the landing and I’m in charge of the check up of the ship once you’ve left… We might see each other in passing…” He explains, Louis nods. He really has no other choice after all.

“We’ll meet up on the 26th though, won’t we?” Louis says. He knows he has a press conference during the day, but he should be free by dinner time.

“Yeah, why don’t you come around mine at about 8? We could catch up a bit… there’s so many things I have to tell you” Harry says. 

Louis is curious and wants to ask why he couldn’t say them there and then, and especially if these things are in some way related to Nick Grimshaw, but he’s been patient for six months, he can wait a little bit longer.

“Yeah sure, I have a press conference at 3 so I guess 8 sounds good” He says instead. 

“Thanks for making it work” he adds then, Harry frowns for a moment before realising what Louis meant and smiling wide, dimples in full display.

“I’m glad it worked” He only says. They say goodnight, Harry whispers “for the last time” and Louis giggles and tells him he’s such a drama queen. 

“Just one more sleep” Louis says finally, Harry smiles.

“Sleep well Lou” he says before logging off and leaving Louis looking at the stars outside. 

All in all it’s been a really cool birthday.

•

Louis opens his eyes, around him everyone is cheering but he almost can’t hear them, in his mind the constant thought of “I’m home” drumming through his ears. They’ve landed in Swindon, they’re back, he’s _home_. 

It’s been a bumpy ride, the ship almost unable to hold up the impact with the atmosphere, Louis thinks he heard Paul shout _may day may day_ for a moment. He doesn’t remember much of it though, he had been looking outside the window the whole time, looking as Earth was coming closer and closer. 

He doesn’t regret having left, he doesn’t regret having spent six months in space. He loved it, he loved floating around and seeing the sun set and rise 15 times a day, he loved looking down at Earth and seeing it so beautiful and shiny. He loves the whole crew and he wants to see them as much as he can now that he’s back. But the delay has taken its toll on all of them, it’s definitely been too long and he feels like he’s crawling out of his skin while he goes through debriefing and sanitisation. 

He forces himself into a shower, but he can’t seem to enjoy it, the anticipation of finally seeing his family pushing him to make it as quick as possible. And when he has to shake hands with the whole group of wealthy and powerful men up at management, who all tell him how proud they are and how important his contribution has been to the Agency, he can barely bring his lips to a full smile. By the time he manages to get away he is exhausted and wants nothing more than to see his loved ones. 

He spots his family from afar, the biggest group in the waiting area. It’s a big room, with a teal carpet and modern looking chairs. It’s right at the entrance of the Agency and a life size replica of the first British Space Module is hanging from the tall ceiling. A big set of windows opposite the entrance opens on the Communications Room while the rest of the building develops on both sides of it. 

Lottie is the first to notice him and she starts running towards him, soon followed by the young twins and Félicité. They two older girls jump on him and so do the twins and he ends up awkwardly walking towards the rest of his family trying to hold up the four girls. Needless to say, he epically fails and they all tumble in a heap on the floor. Jay and Dan and the baby twins catch up with them laughing and he soon finds out Anne, Robin and Gemma are also there when Gemma offers him her hand to help him up. And when the whole bunch, baby twins included, wrap him up in a hug, telling him how much they missed him and how good it is that he’s back, he really can’t help but let a couple of tears escape.

Jay says they have booked a table at his favourite restaurant and he smiles gratefully at her, while he lets himself get dragged by the twins towards the exit.

They pass in front of the Communication Room and he chances a look inside, walking slower to take it all in. He’s always been fascinated by the massive screen that looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. It’s black now, except for a small writing saying _mission completed_ and he feels quite proud of being part of the reason that writing is there. 

He spots Niall, he looks busy on his computer but Louis can definitely see that it’s just a vintage looking game of Space Invaders. He snorts, before scanning the room. His heart stops when he sees Harry. And he, too, stops dead in his tracks, not even caring that Daisy and Phoebe are pulling at his arms; and he stares. Harry is looking down intently at a piece of paper, a frown of concentration on his face. He’s gorgeous and he looks even taller now, Louis knows that it’s because he’s gotten used to seeing him just from the waist up and through a screen, but he feels a sudden urge of shouting his name and get down there with him. 

He’s about to knock on the glass, he doesn’t even know if it’s allowed – it probably isn’t – when he sees Nick approaching Harry. He throws an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and looks down at the piece of paper, getting impossibly closer to his cheek. Louis’ face falls and he feels sick and almost wants to tell his mum he only wants to go home, but when he turns around, she’s looking at him expectantly and he doesn’t have the heart to ruin her night. 

He shots a last glance down at his best friend, who’s now laughing with Nick, and turns away with a sigh, letting himself be dragged out of the agency by his sisters.

•

It’s 7.25 and Louis has been itching all day. The whole press conference has been fun and it was nice finally being able to hug Zayn without floating away at every contact. He’s also been properly introduced to Niall, who turned out to be exactly as fun and nice as Louis thought. But it’s been all day and he’s been wanting to see Harry for six months and he doesn’t even care if he might have to share him with Nick Grimshaw – who is he kidding he’s going to be fucking miserable if he has to share his best friend with that prick – the point is that he’s had enough and he wants to go and meet his boy. 

He checks the time, still 7.25, is his watch even working? He decides he doesn’t really care and he bundles up in his coat and a warm scarf, that he thinks might actually be Harry’s. He walks down the road, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep warm, he knows the way like the back of his hand, he could walk to Harry’s with his eyes closed. Yet it all seems so different from the last time he walked there. 

He remembers it was June, just two days before his forced pre-flight quarantine, and Harry had organised a small get together with their families, to say goodbye properly. Louis had spent the night eating all his favourite foods, drinking and laughing with his favourite people and for a moment, there, he had thought to give up on the mission. Fuck everything and stay there with them. 

He had told Harry, when everyone else was asleep and they were cuddled on the sofa, chatting just as usual. Harry had took his hand then, squeezing it a bit and getting Louis’ full attention. 

“Man up and do me proud. Nothing will change and we’ll still be here when you’re back” He said, placing a kiss on Louis’ hand. Louis was too tipsy to reply coherently, so he had just nodded and buried his face in Harry’s neck, inhaling his scent and falling asleep just like that.

But now everything is cold, and he isn’t even so sure Harry is still the same.

He rounds the corner to Harry’s road and he sees his car in the pathway. As he approaches, he notices Harry get off and go round the back to open the boot. What Louis didn’t expect though, was to see Nick Grimshaw come out the passenger seat, walking to Harry and grabbing the bag he was carrying. It all looks really domestic and Louis really wants to run away, but he’s frozen in the spot, right in front of them. His treacherous mouth lets out a whimper that has Nick turn towards him. A toothy grin appears on his lips and all Louis can think is that he wants to smash all his teeth to pieces. 

“Hey Louis! Welcome back!” Nick says. Louis doesn’t know what to do or what to say so he just stays there. Harry is frozen too and Louis doesn’t know if it’s because he’s happy to see him or if he feels caught in the act. 

Considering Harry tells a dumbfounded Nick to go ahead and hands him the keys to his flat, Louis is quite keen on thinking it’s the second option. He really wants to cry.

“Lou” Harry whispers once he’s managed to walk up to the smaller boy. Louis lets himself be hugged and for a moment he gets lost in Harry’s touch. He’s missed it so much and he’s so not ready to give it up, he doesn’t want Harry to not be his, he doesn’t want the boy he loves to be with someone else. 

But Harry seems happy with Nick and Louis can’t take that away from him and he suddenly feels so alone and it’s even worse than when he was 220 miles from home, because now Harry is here and Louis hates loving him so much and not being able to have him for himself.

He doesn’t even notice he’s started crying, until Harry asks him what’s wrong. Louis doesn’t know what possesses him, but he blurts out a whispered “pick me” and he knows that now he’s gone and done it. 

Harry pushes him away gently, putting his hands on his shoulders, keeping him steady as if he knows that Louis wants to run away. He looks in Louis eyes, they’re filled with tears and he’s so embarrassed but he can’t seem to stop crying.

“What did you just say?” Harry asks and Louis pleads him with his eyes, hoping Harry won’t submit him to this utter humiliation.

“Louis, please…” Harry says when Louis keeps silent. He looks up then, taking a deep breath. He muster all the courage he has and he hopes for the best even if he’s sure his chances are scarce.

“I said–“ Louis starts, as another sob escapes his lips “–I said pick me” he finally manages to say. He’s exhausted, it feels like a proper nightmare and he really hopes he’ll wake up soon. 

Harry suddenly lets out a small nervous laugh, looking unsure of how to react and Louis feels like shit, because he put his best friend in a really awful position.

“What– What do you mean?” Harry finally asks, a frown marring his features. Louis shuts his eyes closed. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. 

“Don’t go out with Nick, pick me, please, please” He’s outright begging now and he kind of wants to find a shovel and dig a hole and hide forever. 

He still has his eyes closed so he doesn’t notice Harry’s initial frown and the way his smile then widens, dimples popping and eyes shining.

“Lou” He says, Louis refuses to open his eyes. Harry repeats his name and Louis feels him get closer.

“Come on Lou, open your eyes” Harry finally says, just mere inches from Louis’ mouth. Louis opens one eye, keeping the other shut. He hears Harry giggle and he chances opening both, finding himself face to face with a grinning boy.

“It’s never been Nick, Lou, it’s always been you, I’m always going to pick you, you wonderful idiot” Harry finally says, and Louis is sure he’s misheard, because it almost seems like Harry has been liking him all along and Louis can’t really believe this. 

But then Harry his slotting his lips on Louis’ and he feels like he’s back on the Space Station and he’s floating. It’s just a small peck at first and Harry pulls away quickly, looking unsure and worried. But Louis isn’t having any of it, he’s been waiting long enough.

He quite literally attacks Harry’s lips with his owns, scraping his teeth on Harry’s lower lip until he whimpers and opens his mouth, slightly, giving Louis full access. Harry flicks his tongue against Louis’, and that seems to give them life. Louis surges up, tangling his fingers in Harry’s curls and getting impossibly close. 

They kiss for what feels like hours and they jump apart, blushing like kids - but definitely grinning like manics - when they hear someone clear their throat right behind Harry. Louis looks past his shoulder and sees Zayn and Niall, holding hands and looking at them with raised eyebrows.

“Man I get it that you’ve missed each other, but you’re in the middle of the street” Zayn says shaking his head, Niall howls instead and runs to hug them both. Louis is definitely confused. What are they even doing there?

“Guys, not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here?” he asks. Both Zayn and Niall turn to Harry in reply and Louis is officially baffled.

“Come on, let’s go inside, I’ll explain everything” Harry says, and for a moment Louis remembers that Nick is inside Harry’s house and his heart sinks. Then again, Niall and Zayn are going to be there as well so it can’t be too bad. 

When Harry rests his hand on his lower back, guiding him towards the house and kissing his cheek on the doorstep he’s 100% sure it won’t be bad at all. 

Louis enters the familiar flat, taking his coat and scarf off. He hangs them on the railing, next to the door and checks the calendar next to it. It’s stuck on the 24th, he points at it and frowns at Harry who just smirks and motions for him to go into the living room. 

They are greeted by a loud “Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!” when they cross the threshold and Louis almost jumps in shock. Everyone is there: his mum, his sisters, Anne, Gemma, all his friends from work, even Paul is there, and of course there’s Nick too, but he’s holding a huge cake with _Welcome Back Lou_ written on it and suddenly Louis feels horrible for thinking all those bad things about him. 

•

He’s soon lost in a blur of greetings, handshakes, vodka shots, presents and slices of cake and he finds himself hours later, with memories he’s not sure he’s imagined. He’s pretty sure he chatted for half hour with Nick about the pros and cons of vodka-tonic and he thinks Lottie (who’s recently started working as an apprentice for a hair-stylist/make-up artist and Louis is so so proud of his little sister) proclaimed him the winner the hair bet, but Harry apparently retaliated saying that only a real hairdresser would be able to tell, that of course earned him a slap up the head. All in all it’s been a really fun night.

But now they’re sitting on Harry’s sofa, just like they used to do. No one stayed at Harry’s this time, both their families back at Louis’ house for the night, and he doesn’t know whether it was previously arranged or not, but it really worked out perfectly. 

He turns in Harry’s arms, kissing him slowly, his tongue running along his lips, before Harry parts them and his tongue caresses Louis’ own. They haven’t had the chance to kiss much during the night, but it already feels practiced and familiar, like something Louis has been doing all his life.

“Hey, Haz… why is the calendar still set on the 24th?” He asks as soon as they part. He doesn’t even know how it came to his mind while he was lost in Harry’s kiss. He must be tipsier than he thought.

Harry giggles, before kissing Louis’ nose. 

“It’s because I wanted to stop time so we could spend Christmas together” He says, and Louis feels his smile get so wide that he’s worried he’ll need stitches. How did he even get such a wonderful boy? 

“I love you” Louis says, Harry is grinning wildly and he slightly blushes before pecking Louis’ lips.

“I have loved you since we were eighteen” He whispers. Louis chuckles, his heart feeling so full it could burst.

“Ha! I’ve been in love with you since we were sixteen” he says, Harry guffaws, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t know this was a competition” he says between laughters, Louis grins.

“Well I’m winning anyway” he says, Harry’s expression softens as he runs a hand along Louis’ jaw, tracing gently the light stubble there. He leans in and kisses his lips first then trails to the left, up his jaw until he reaches his ear. Louis shudders when Harry whispers “It kind of feels like we’re both winning” and gently licks behind his ear. Louis nods, grinning, then turns and tries to pay attention to the tv. Not like there’s anything interesting on, but he kind of wants this moment to last forever, so he’s trying to take his time.

“Zayn got me tickets for Coachella next year” He says, conversationally. 

They still haven’t had the chance to talk about things, talk about those past six months apart. Sure they’ve been in touch most of the time, but it’s not the same. And Louis can’t wait to get back into their old routine of chatting about mundane stuff, gossiping about their friends and talking about nonsense.

Harry surprises him saying “I know” and Louis’ head snaps back to look at him questioningly.

“He messaged me a couple of weeks ago and asked me if he could take you there, if he was overstepping any boundary” Harry says. Louis drops his jaw. What even?

“What?” He asks. Harry smirks.

“Yeah well Niall is a piece of shit and told him I was in love with you… I was terrified he would tell you before I could do it myself” Harry explains. 

Louis rolls his eyes so hard he thinks he might have pulled a muscle. Seriously? Zayn knew and let him wallow in self pity for days? What an asshole. Then again, it really wouldn’t have been the same. And he’s grateful he’s got such a good friend.

“Zayn is a good friend” Harry voices his own thoughts and Louis smiles, turning fully this time, so that he’s straddling Harry. 

“He is, also he’s got some sick tattoos” Louis adds. 

Both Harry and him have been tattoos fans since they were younger, both collecting their fair share while growing up. Louis’s got his last one just before leaving, a constellation (suspiciously resembling the Aquarius, but one can never be sure) in addition to the mess on his right forearm. 

He runs a hand along the collar of Harry’s shirt, exposing the numbers on his shoulders and rubbing his thumb on them gently. He looks down and something catches his attention.

“Harry” he exclaims, unbuttoning the boy’s shirt further and exposing his collarbones. There’s a new tattoo there, one that Louis’s never seen. He looks up at Harry, who has a pleased smirk on his lips. Louis can’t believe he went and got a huge-ass chest piece. Of fucking birds nonetheless.

Louis looks back down, he barely traces the dark lines on Harry’s skin. He looks at the birds and sees they’re not really identical. He frowns.

“Babe, they did them wrong, though… they don’t look the same” He says, Harry giggles, looking down at his chest.

“It’s because they aren’t supposed to be identical… They are swallows and this particular bird mates for life you know?” Louis didn’t really know, but he nods anyway. Harry then points at the smaller bird. 

“See, the eyebrow?” He asks, Louis nods again, it’s curved, he looks at the other bird which it has straight eyebrows instead. Louis doesn’t really see the point, since birds don’t have eyebrows in real life, he looks back up at Harry with a questioning glance. Harry smirks again.

“Aren’t they familiar?” He asks, tracing Louis’ own eyebrow gently, with his thumb. Louis drops his jaw. Wait. What? How is that even possible?

“Did you get mating-for-life-bird-us tattooed on your chest?” He asks, incredulous, Harry lets out a giggle before nodding. 

Louis can’t believe it. He is so in love he could explode. He throws his arms around Harry’s neck and kisses him deeply, before placing a soft kiss on bird-Harry as well, just for good measure.

He hears Harry hiss in discomfort when he does, though, and he pulls away in worry, Harry has his eyes closed so Louis looks down at the tattoo. He doesn’t know how he hasn’t noticed before, but it looks like it hasn’t fully healed yet.

“When did you get this?” Louis enquires, still engrossed in the image on Harry’s chest.

“Barely a week ago… I skipped work and got Nick to introduce me to his tattoo artist friend, Tom, he did an amazing work” He says, Louis still doesn’t look at him, and he’s glad Harry can’t see the blush spreading on his cheeks. So that’s where he went that day, Louis snorts.

“What?” Harry asks, Louis shakes his head.

“I got so jealous that day, I thought you and Nick were properly going out. Although the tweet you posted gave me a little bit of hope…” He confesses, shooting Harry a sideway glance. Harry merely laughs, throwing his head back on the couch, while Louis hides his smile. He’s so glad he’s finally got this boy.

“You’re unbelievable” He finally says, Harry looks at him, placing his hands on Louis’ hips and pulling him closer, as if trying to melt against him. Louis buries his face in Harry’s neck, placing small kisses behind his ear. 

“I’m so glad you’re home” He whispers, a hand running up and down Louis’ back. Louis trails a path of kisses up Harry’s jaw, before nipping at it softly and smiling in the process.

“I’m so in love with you” He whispers, pulling away just for a moment, before placing a gentle kiss on Harry’s lips. 

They both smile then, looking at each other, Louis doesn’t know how he got so lucky in his life, he’s still unsure he deserves any of the great things he has. 

Harry kisses him, with intention this time, running his tongue on his lips, asking for access; and when their tongues touch and start moving together, Louis feels like he’s floating again, but Harry keeps him steady, with a hand on his side, thumb caressing his hipbone, and the other on his neck, reminding him he’s finally _home_.

•Fin•

**Author's Note:**

> Heey!  
> You can find me on tumblr at [**iam-possiblyinsane**](http://iam-possiblyinsane.tumblr.com) if you want to come say hi... Oh! and [this](http://iam-possiblyinsane.tumblr.com/post/106677179314/the-stars-look-very-different-today-harry-louis) is the rebloggable post for the fic...  
>  Also let me know what you think, this is definitely the longest fic I've ever written aaah!!


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